"Adam Woodruff is the Gateway region's rising star in the discipline of landscape horticulture and design. Adam's uniquely creative landscapes are inspired by his professional travels and by networking with other visionaries in the areas of landscape plant selection and garden design."
Bill Ruppert, Executive Director, Horticultural Co-op of Metro St. Louis
ABOUT
Adam Woodruff + Associates is an award-winning, garden-design firm catering to discerning clientèle in the metro St. Louis and metro Boston areas.
We strive to enrich our client’s experience of their environment by creating gardens that are uniquely appropriate for each property. Our designs are thoughtfully conceived and orchestrated to enhance the architecture and natural beauty found on the site. Although there is an obvious Woodruff style, all of our projects are custom-tailored to meet our client's needs.
Echinops ritro 'Veitch's Blue' with Alchemilla filipendula 'Moonshine' and Nicotiana sanderae 'Perfume Deep Purple'
BIOGRAPHY
Adam Woodruff has practiced garden design since 1995. He trained as a Botanist at Eastern Illinois University. Woodruff attributes his unique design style, naturalism with a twist, to early college exposures to a diverse range of plants and environments (collecting trips in local prairies, field excursions to bogs in Canada and treks through forests of the Northeast). He also maintained the campus greenhouse, where he developed a love of tropicals.In recent years, influences on his designs include travels abroad to Europe, Asia and the Yucatan peninsula as well as observation of the work of great plantsmen such asPiet Oudolfand Roy Diblik.
Woodruff’s designs often combine grasses, prairie natives and perennials with lush tropical foliage and seasonal blooms. This harmonious blending of plant material that is not conventionally grouped together is the ‘twist’ that makes his style unique.
Adam Woodruff visiting Piet & Anja Oudolf's private garden in the Netherlands.
Woodruff recently won a national garden design competition, sponsored by the Perennial Plant Association, for an eclectic, vibrant and massive streetscape he created in central Illinois (photo album below). He was honored for the same corporate project three years earlier by the Missouri Botanical Garden.
In the fall of 2008, Woodruff reinterpreted the traditional cottage garden for his home in central Illinois. Low maintenance perennials, grasses and shrubs now envelop the front facade.
The garden was recently featured in May/June '11 issue of St. Louis Magazine AT HOMEand the September/October '11 issue of Horticulture Magazine.
PRIVATE GARDEN- Girard, Illinois
COMMERCIAL
Gardens at the Bank of Springfield | Pierre Laclede Center | The Plaza In Clayton
GARDENS AT THE BANK OF SPRINGFIELD- Springfield, Illinois
In 2004, the Bank of Springfield doubled the size of their flagship facility in central Illinois. Adam Woodruff + Associates was engaged to redesign the 3 acre site. The chief consideration of the design process was to boldly impact the streetscape. Woodruff designed naturalistic, yet vibrant flower borders scaled to the site to accomplish his goal. The gardens cover 22,000 square feet and include a massive perennial and annual bed running the length of the Wabash Avenue facade. Several auxiliary flower beds dot the property, echoing color and texture rhythms found in the main bed. Annuals, which represent 40% of the plant material found in the gardens, are artfully woven between shrubs, roses, grasses and perennials to insure consistent bloom.
Woodruff and his team, designed, installed and maintained the gardens from 2004-2010.
"Mr. Woodruff's innovative approach to landscaping the Bank of Springfield's Wabash location is the talk of the town and has set a new standard for street-side beautification in the capital city. His award-winning creation is an inspiration for other businesses, which are now trying to follow suit by stepping up their landscape efforts."
Mayor Timothy J. Davlin, City of Springfield
PIERRE LACLEDE CENTER- Clayton, Missouri
The Pierre Laclede Center is the definitive address for business. The center consists of two office towers, occupying an entire city block (Clayton's largest office property) and is home to corporations, entrepreneurial ventures and professional service firms.
Adam Woodruff + Associates was engaged in the spring of 2010 to design a unique seasonal display for the center's public plazas. Eighty-four (existing) large stationary planters equipped with sub-irrigation systems and several key bedding areas were planted with an assortment of lush, tropical foliage plants. The resulting display softens the surrounding hardscape and enhances how the center's tenants and their clients experience the space.
"In early February 2010, the Pierre Laclede Center came under new ownership and management. We looked to invest in landscaping that would provide aesthetic value to our tenants, their clients and the community at large. When Adam sent us examples of his work we knew that he could meet our expectations. His seasonal displays are stunning! In addition, his service and attention to detail go above and beyond what is normally seen in this business. We could not be happier with the results and look forward to a long working relationship with Adam Woodruff + Associates."
Jamie Koritz, Real Estate Manager, CB Richard Ellis
THE PLAZA IN CLAYTON- Clayton, Missouri
The Plaza In Clayton is Clayton, Missouri's tallest residential building at 31 stories, with unparalleled views and conveniences. Residents enjoy substantial green space on both the 4th and 5th floor rooftops.
"In early 2009, Adam Woodruff + Associates took over the landscaping responsibilities at The Plaza In Clayton. Both Management and Residents are extremely pleased with the outcome. Mr. Woodruff and his team of professionals are very detailed and responsive. His seasonal displays are creative and distinct, a virtual botanical garden. We look forward to working with Adam Woodruff + Associates for many years to come!"
Dustin Coleman, Community Manager, The Plaza In Clayton
This week, Horticulture Magazine published a story titled "Bold Colors For The Border" about my work at the Bank of Springfield (pages 60-65). The photos were take last summer by Al Parrish and the story was written by Meghan Shinn.
Here is an excerpt: In 2004, Bank of Springfield Chairman and CEO Tom Marantz decided the bank's flagship building needed some gardens in place of the existing turf and ash trees. Adam ultimately planted 22,000 square feet. By 2010, annuals and tropical plants made up 40 percent of the plantings. Adam credits the BOS project- and the encouragement of Tom Marantz- with helping him hone his design skills and style. With so many temporary plants, he could revise the design each season.
For more, pick up a copy at newsstands today, or better yet, subscribe online at www.hortmag.com.
"Bold Colors For The Border"(Photo Supplement)
I have compiled a slideshow of some of my favorite perennial-tropical combination from the Gardens at the Bank of Springfield for Horticulture Magazine readers .
Congratulation to Susan Cohan, APLD and company on the premier of Leaf Magazine. Check out page 54 for a photo from my former garden in Springfield, Illinois.
This week, Horticulture Magazine published a story titled "Down On The Corner" about my former residential garden in central Illinois (pages 40-45). The photos were taken at this time last year, before our move to Boston. It was written by Horticulture's own Meghan Shinn.
Here is an excerpt: It's a lucky thing that Adam Woodruff's former home in Springfield, Ill., sits on a corner. The garden this up-and-coming landscape designer created there will stop traffic. The adjacent stop sign lets a passing gardener safely pause and admire the colorful, textural border that hems the lot.
September/October 2011
The garden is representative of Adam's unique style, one he calls 'naturalism with a twist'. He has found inspiration in Piet Oudolf's relaxed planting aesthetic, with its soft swaths of billowing grasses and prairie flowers, in which a plant's form takes precedence over its color. Adam's designs come into their own through the colorful tropical flowers and foliage he mixes in. "Ornamental grasses, prairie natives and perennials are combined with lush tropical foliage and seasonal blooms", he says describing his style. "The harmonious blending of plant material that is not conventionally grouped together provides the 'twist' that makes my style unique."
For more, pick up a copy at newsstands today, or better yet, subscribe online at www.hortmag.com.
Photos of my former garden can be found in my Flickr set: Designer's Garden. Also, check out Jan Paul's profile in St. Louis Magazine AT HOME's May 2011 issue, titled "Naturalism With A Twist".
"Landscape designer Adam Woodruff is making a national name for himself with gardens that blend natives and annuals, the wild and the domestic". By Jan Paul - Photographed by TJ Salsman
Click on the image above to view an online version of the article
I have just returned from a week in Cleveland, Ohio where I attended the APLD (Association of Professional Landscape Designers) International Design Conference. We were informed and inspired by speakers like Susan Cohan, Tracy DiSabato-Aust, Julie Moir Messervy and David Thorn (to name a few). Our group toured 22 landscapes/gardens of various styles and plant diversity (click on the image above to view a Flickr collection of photos). We enjoyed an awards dinner and presentation where Piet Oudolf was honored with the APLD Award of Distinction and Suzanne Arca was named APLD International Designer of the Year. It was a wonderful week of camaraderie and knowledge sharing.
A high point of my trip to England was a visit to the Trentham Estate, where Tom Stuart-Smith and Piet Oudolf have created a modern masterpiece. What a treat to view the work of two of the world's finest garden designers in one very grand setting. Click on the image above to view a Flickr slideshow.
Adam Woodruff + Associates is committed the successful establishment of our gardens and to our client's satisfaction. We provide all-inclusive services to ensure that our shared vision for the property becomes a reality.
Design services are only offered in conjunction with implementation of the design and subsequent maintenance or maintenance consultations.
"As a colleague of Adam's at Gardening Gone Wild, I've seen how his passion for plants and design shines through in his writing. His professional attitude and attention to detail make it a pleasure to have him as a part of our blogging team."
The Plants of Merit program serves to promote plants that are proven to be well-adapted to the lower Midwest for the purpose of increasing plant diversity in the home landscape.The Missouri Botanical Garden’s Kemper Center for Home Gardening began this educational effort in 1998 to increase gardening success for the homeowner.
The program centers on a list of regionally (USDA Zones 5 and 6) proven annuals, perennials, shrubs, vines, trees and edible ornamentals. The list is published each year by a consortium that includes Missouri Botanical Gardens, Powell Gardens, Mizzou Botanic Garden, the University of Missouri Extension, Missouri Landscape & Nursery Association and the Illinois Green Industry Association.
The program relies on sponsors and regional horticultural experts to nominate plants for recognition. Plants are chosen with the goal of making available to the public a range of plants for diverse settings that are attractive, disease- and pest-tolerant, non-invasive, and have outstanding ornamental value. Each year new awardees are selected, as past winners earn emeritus status.
An annual guide listing the Plants of Merit is widely distributed through the region. And, anetwork of retail nursery and garden centersstock Plants of Merit and promote the program with customers.
"Adam Woodruff has been a great supporter of the Plants of Merit program. We value that attention and credit his effort to incorporate program ideas and plant selections into his landscape designs. As a leader in his field, he has demonstrated first-hand what can be done to diversify the landscape and create environments that promote well-being."
Steven D. Cline, Ph.D., Manager, Kemper Center for Home Gardening, Missouri Botanical Garden
